Ebru Kurbak, Mahir M. Yavuz: News Knitter
Artist(s):
Title:
- News Knitter
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2007
Category:
Artist Statement:
News Knitter materializes ephemeral online data through wearable garments. Large-scale data gathered from online political news is used as a source to generate patterns for a fully computerized knitting machine. Knitting, a very conventional mode of physical production, is preferred as a medium to embody digital information and to produce daily, wearable, washable sweaters. Digital bits are transformed into physical stitches and the information is visualized through three-dimensional, tactile, personal belongings.
News Knitter proposes an innovative workflow and production pipeline as an alternative for the common methods of fabrication of knitted garments. It translates the individual design process of patterning into a worldwide collaboration by utilizing live data streams as a source for pattern generation. Due to the dynamic nature of live data streams, the elements of worldwide participation and unpredictability are introduced into the design process. Situated at the intersection of digital data visualization and analog knitting, News Knitter offers a fresh insight to new modes of industrial production. It brings two controversial concepts, unique design and mass production, into discussion.
